


The End Of Heartache

by adarkworldfantasy



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 09:23:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1261204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adarkworldfantasy/pseuds/adarkworldfantasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story featuring Vincent's point of view over time throughout the series of FFVII.  Song fic, using the song "The End Of Heartache" by Killswitch Engage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End Of Heartache

_Seek me, call me  
I'll be waiting_

 

The first time that I had seen light in thirty years was that of when the lid was pulled off the confines of my oak prison that I had been laid to rest in. Why? Why these people bothered to seek out a monster such as myself, I did not understand. "This mansion is the beginning of your nightmare," I tell them, hoping they would take this as a sign to leave. Yet this one man, one donning strange goggles atop of his head and a pack of cigarettes tucked into the straps and gazing at me with piercing blue eyes, does not leave. Apparently he does not getting the hint that I wished to be left alone. Instead, he agrees with me and just stands there in all his stubbornness along with his other companions, even though I have no interest in any of their stories that they wish to tell. That was until I heard the one name uttered, one that sparked an old and bitter memory of my failures in the past. Sephiroth. Lucrecia's son. Now, the world's enemy.

 

_This distance, this dissolution  
I cling to memories while falling_

 

"It's like ya said, this mansion's the beginnin' of a nightmare. It ain't a dream, it's the truth. Sephiroth's gone nuts...found a ton of secrets in this mansion," the blonde haired man proceeds to tell me. My memories I have been clinging to like a dirty secret replay once more within my mind. Lucrecia's son. The one that I had hoped would be spared from such horrid experiments and go on to live a normal life. The one that I had fought Hojo about, pleading him to stop the experiments, to bring and end to that madness. No child on Gaia's green earth should have been subjected to such a cruel fate. To have their choices taken from them before birth. To be raised as a warrior. A bringer of death. Even with my last breath, as I fell to the ground after the bullet ripped through my chest, I had hoped, prayed, that Lucrecia would run, change the course of events that had been laid out and save her unborn child from such wicked intent. But I was wrong once more. Another line to carve into the wall of failures.

 

_Sleep brings release, and the hope of a new day  
Waking the misery of being without you_

 

I wanted those people to go away, leave me be and end their quest in prodding for information, and so I told them so as politely as I could with a "Please, go away. Let me sleep," as I closed the lid on my dusty and molded resting place once more. I could not face the world, not after knowing that I had a hand in the chaos that was building outside the confines of the old manor I was buried beneath. All I wished to do was close the lid on my coffin once more and drift off to sleep, tell myself this wasn't real. I prayed that this was all a dream. That I would awaken from this horrid nightmare and awake another day to find that I was still alive, still working as a Turk, doing my duties. But I knew this was a fool's hope. That I would only awaken to the realization once more that she was dead while her son wreaked havoc on the planet for something that I failed to protect him from.

 

_Surrender, I give in  
Another moment is another eternity_

 

The guilt began to take it's toll even more, ripping and shredding inside of me worse than that of my demons or what Hojo's scalpel could ever do to me. And so I surrender, give into the fact that this was my mistake, something I must help to fix. So I soon followed after them. Maybe it is a foolish thought, but perhaps there was some way, somehow, I would be able to redeem myself from my sins by helping in this venture. To help correct the mistakes I made. Would it even make a difference in the end? I could only hope...

 

_(Seek me) For comfort, (Call me) For solace_  
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart  
(Seek me) Completion, (Call me) I'll be waiting  
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart

 

I continued on with the group of people known as AVALANCHE, joining the quest to bring down Sephiroth and stop the reign of madness he was bringing upon the world. I fought by their sides, battled monsters with them, frightened them with my reveal of my own monsters inside of me, all the while wondering when it would all end. 

I take solace where I can, whether it be following behind the group or an empty place on the airship that belongs to the man known as Cid. As of now, I stand on the deck of the airship, looking out over the terrain that we are drifting over when I hear a voice speak, "Ya doin' ok?" It's hard to avoid the man. He always seems to seek me out, seeing if I am alright, if I need anything, or anything else that he thinks I may need, as if to comfort me.

"I am fine," I tell him simply and just stare off into the wilderness as he set off to our new destination.

I hear a snort followed by a comment of, "Fine, my ass, ya are...yer dwellin' on shit again," he says as he lights another one of his cigarettes that he always has on hand. "Still on that 'this is all my fault' shit again?"

 

_You know me, you know me all too well  
My only desire - to bridge our division_

 

I almost smile with amusement. For as little time as I have spent with the group, Cid seems to know me better than I had expected. For as little as I try to speak, unless I am spoken to, he knows me all too well. "And why would you think that?" I ask in a seemingly steady and uninterested voice, though I am curious.

Another snort, this time one of a more humoured tone. "Can see it in yer eyes, Vince. Ain't much to it," he replies. 

I look over to him out of the corner of my eyes, seeing him take a deep drag off his cigarette as he looks out into the distance like I had been. Sometimes I wonder why it is that he follows me around like he does, as if he is worried about a person like me. I turn my gaze back to where it once was and ask, "Why does it matter to you what I feel or what I am thinking?"

Even though I don't look at him, I can tell he has turned his attention to me. "Ya actually need a reason from me?" I know he's now shaking his head because I can hear the metal dogs tags clinking together as the chain shifts along his tanned neck. "'Cause that's what friends do fer one another. And seein' as how ya've built such a gap between yerself and everyone else...figured I'd try and get across that gap."

I frown at this, not understanding completely why the man would want to try and bridge the division I had put between the others and myself. "You mean to tell me you actually desire to be my friend? Someone like myself? After what I have done?"

"Why not?" His tone has a brutally honest touch to it, one that I was not expecting. There is a hand that pats my shoulder and I hear a soft chuckle from the gruff pilot. "Everyone messes up, Vince. Can't let that make ya want ta hide from the world..."

I do not know how much time has passed since that day on the airship. Every day afterwards, there was another battle to fight, another foe to defeat. There were many victories, as well as losses of the innocent, one being a close friend to each of us. Perhaps I was not what one would consider a friend to the woman known as Aerith, but I admired the girl's courage and her kind nature. It hurt everyone deeply, but we moved on. We had to. Otherwise...all our attempts...what we would have accomplished so far would have all been a waste.

 

_In sorrow I speak your name  
And my voice mirrors my torment_

 

Time seemed to blur even more that day I saw her in that cave. I speak her name aloud, "Lucrecia," sorrow filling every syllable of it. For a moment...a very brief moment...I thought that she was alive, that she had managed to survive through the pit of hell that she had been tossed into due to my negligence. Yet I know this was not the case, and my voice mirrors my torment even more as I tell her that her son is dead. 

 

_(Seek me) For comfort, (Call me) For solace_  
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart  
(Seek me) Completion, (Call me) I'll be waiting  
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart

 

My heart is heavy with grief, her words echoing in my mind. That's when I feel a presence at my side once again, that of Cid, asking if I am alright. I can only reply with an, "As much as I can be."

There is a moment before Cid speaks once more and asks, "Why didn't ya tell her the truth? Tell her that Sephiroth's still alive?"

I close my eyes, as if to shut out the world for only a moment, give myself that moment of solace that I need to give my crushing heart an ease from the pain. "There is no need for her to know. She has...she had been through enough already..."

 

_Am I breathing?_  
My strength fails me  
Your picture, a bitter memory 

 

Then it came, the day where the fighting ended. The planet survived Meteor, and Sephiroth's reign came to an end. I felt like I didn't breath for entirety of the time that I was on the airship, as I watched the lifestream burst out of the planet. Once it was all said and done, I finally took a breath, closed my eyes, feeling my energy drain from me as I slouched back against the wall. It was done. The one thing I came out of hiding to do, the one mission I had was now done. What would I do now? What was there left to do? I didn't...feel as if I had redeemed myself. Not fully. So what was there now?

I looked back to the others as they cheered and shared their joy at the planet's survival, knowing that the war was over and that all would be well once more. Meanwhile, I tried to let go of the bitter memory of my failures, and how none of this would have happened had I have tried harder. I lowered my head and walked away, once more, to find some peace and solace, to give myself time to think on what I would do next.

 

_For comfort, for solace_  
(Seek me) For comfort, (Call me) For solace  
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart  
(Seek me) Completion, (Call me) I'll be waiting  
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart 

 

It's been over three years now, since I left that day. Three years since Sephiroth was first defeated. Two years since the Remnants came and the second coming of Sephiroth. One year since Deep Ground and the Tsviets arose and Chaos and Omega returned to the planet. I had to sit and wonder if it was all over now, if perhaps this was the end of my twisted past coming back to haunt me

Cid came to me again, not long after the Deep Ground incident. It still amazes me to this day how much the man wishes to seek me out and call me over to visit. Thinking back, I don't think that I ever had a friend as devoted as he was. I almost feel ashamed that I had not opened up more to the man, spoken to him more, become a better friend over the years, rather than avoiding him as if to keep him safe in case I brought harm to him like I had to others in my life.

He doesn't seem to care about that though. Cid is a kind man, at least to me that is. Ask other people, like Yuffie, and they would give you another story. Yet he had always been kind to me, concerned, and would wait for me to speak rather than make me speak or just walk away.

"Come on, Vince! Let's go have some cold ones," he says in a cheery tone as he wraps his arm around my shoulders and hauls me off to one of his favourite bars. "Let's celebrate!"

I laugh softly and shake my head. "I do not know if I feel up to celebrating just yet."

"Ah! Come on now, ya gotta stop livin' in the past sometime, Vince. Can't let all that heartbreak get ya down that much. An' what better way ta let it all go an' start thinkin' over what yer gonna do in the future than talkin' 'bout it over a few drinks with a friend?"

I wonder for a moment, a brief moment, if that could be true. That I could let everything go completely, look into the future with a new hope, new goals I may wish to attain. I can only hope. With a small smile I respond with, "True enough," to my friend and walk along with him to the bar. Maybe he's right. Maybe this will this time will be the end of heartache and the beginning of a new future.

**Author's Note:**

> Just listening to this the one day and the song got me thinking of Vincent Valentine and the things he had been through and how he had to keep moving forward. I truly hope you all enjoyed this!


End file.
